Pocket-recorder



(No Model.)

T. H. GAMBLE. POCKET RECORDER.

Patented May 19, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

THOMAS HOYT GAMBLE, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

POCKET-RECORDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,205, dated May 19, 1896.

Application filed May 4, 1895. fierial No. 548,159. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THonAs Hovr GAMBLE, a resident of Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pocket-Recorders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in recorders, and more particularly to an improved pocket-recorder adapted for use of collectors, conductors, or other persons, the object of the invention being to produce a device of a size small enough tobe carried in the pocket of the user and adapted to receive written records of sums of money or fares collected or other information of which it is desired to keep a record.

A further object is to construct the device in such manner that the paper strip on which the record is made can be moved behind a transparent plate, through which it can be observed by the customer or other person interested in its correctness, and to provide means for preventing the retrograde movement of the paper strip to such position as to enable the record which has been made to be tampered with.

A further object is to provide a pocket-recorder adapted to receive written records with a bell adapted to be sounded each time the device is operated to move the paper strip forward.

A further object is to provide simple and efficient means for preventing the opening of the device without detection.

A further object is to provide the lid of a pocket-recorder with a lock and means actuated by the lock for puncturing the paper strip in the recorder when the door or lid is opened, whereby to indicate that the device has been opened.

A further object is to produce a pocket-recorder which shall be simple in construction, comparatively cheap to manufacture, easy and accurate in operation, and which shall be effectual in all respects in the performance of its functions.

\Vith these objects in view the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved recorder.

Fig. 2 is a view of the device with the lid open. Fig. 3 is a side view with the side of the casing removed.

A represents the casin g of my improved recorder, which can be made of metal, guttapercha, fiber, or other suitable material, and of a size convenient to be placed in the pocket of the user, said casing being provided with a hinged lid A, adapted to be locked in its closed position, as hereinafter described, and having two slots a 19 therein, one of said slots being open so that a paper stripl within the casing can have a record written thereon, and the other slot having a transparent plate a" therein, through which the record on the paper strip can be observed by the customer or other person when the paper strip shall have been moved forward.

The casingA is made at its respective ends with enlargements 2 3 to form recesses or compartments for the accommodation of rolls 4 5, the former of which constitutes the supplyroller for the paper strip and the latter the receiving-roller. The paper strip in passing from the roller 4 to the roller 5 passes over a bridge or desk 6, disposed immediately beneath and in line with the open slot in the lid, and the paper, as it passes over this bridge or desk, is kept taut by means of a springarm 7, secured to the casing and bearing against the paper strip on the supply-roller 4. The rollers at 5 are each mounted at one end in suitable bearings secured to one side wall of the casing, and at the other end in springs 8, secured to the other side wall. By thus mounting the rollers they can be readily removed with the record-strip when desired to inspect the latter.

On one journal of the receiving-roller 5 a pinion 9 is loosely mounted and carries a spring actuated dog 10, adapted to engage a ratchet-wheel 11, secured to said journal. The other end of the receiving-roller is provided with a ratchet-wheel 12, with which a spring-dog 13 engages to prevent retrogade movement of said receiving-rolle1u A reciprocating rack-bar 14 is mounted in suitable bearings 15 15 within the casing and provided between its ends with an arm 17, which projects through an elongated slot 18 in one side of the casing, and at its end said arm ispro vided with a button 19, whereby the rack-bar can be slid and made to mesh with the pinion 9 to cause a partial rotation of the receiving-roller and move the paper strip forward from the open slot in the lid and under the transparent plate in the other slot in the lid, through which plate the record produced on the strip can be read. hen the rack-bar is moved forward and engages the pinion, the latter will be locked to the journal of the re ceiving-roller by means of the ratchet-dog 10 and ratchet-wheel 11, but when the button 19 is released the rack-bar will be pulled back to its normal position by means of a spring 21 and the pinion will turn freely on the journal of the receiving-roller, the retrograde movement of the latter being prevented by the engagement of the dog 13 with the ratchetwheel 12, as above explained.

A bell 22 is secured within the casing A, and to said casing the spring-arm 23 of a bellhammer 2 1 is secured; The bell-hammer 24 is made with beveled faces 26 27, adapted to be engaged by a beveled tooth 28, carried by the rear end of the rack-bar I-l. hen the rack-bar is moved forward to actuate the receiving-roller, the tooth 28 will strike the outer end of the beveled face 26 of the bellhammer and move past the latter without causing it to strike the bell. lVhen the rackbar moves back to its normal position, the tooth 28 will engage the face 27 of the hammer 2i and force it backwardly, and, finally, as the rack-bar reaches its normal position the tooth will release the hammer, whereupon the latter will fly forward and strike the bell, thus signifying that the recorder has been operated.

It is intended that the lid of the device shall be locked and the key kept in the possession of a person other than the user of the device via, by the employer of the collector or other person using the device--and it is also intended that if the user should succeed in opening the device for the purpose of altering the records therein or for other purpose such act of the user shall be detected by an indication of the same on the record-strip. For the accomplishment of these purposes the lid of the device is provided at its free edge with a locking-disk 29, adapted to be operated by a key made especially for the purpose and provided with a locking projection or tooth 30, adapted to enter under a flange 31 011 the casing. From the locking-disk 29 an arm 32 projects and at its free end is provided with an inclined pointed tooth 33, and in line with the movement of said arm a cam 53% is secured to the under face of the lid. hen the locking-disk is turned, the arm will be moved in the are of a circle, and when it engages the cam an it will be forced or sprung downwardly and the pointed tooth made to puncture the record-strip and denote that the lid has been opened surreptitiously. The locking-disk and arm secured thereto will be retained in and returned. to their normal position by means of a spring 35, secured at one end to said arm and at the other end to the lid.

My improvements are very simple in construction and effectual in all respects in the performance of their functions.

Slight changes might be made in the de tails of construction of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof ,or limiting its scope, and hence I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details of construction herein set forth; but,

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a pocket-recorder, the combination with a casing and rollers therein having a paper extending from one to the other, of a cover or lid, a lock arranged to lock the latter, said lock provided with an arm which swings in a plane parallel or approximately parallel with the plane of the cover or lid, a puncturing de' vice on said arm, and a cam in position to throw the arm out of its normal plane when it is swung whereby to cause the puncturing device to puncture the paper, substantially as set forth.

2. In a pocket-recorder, the combination with a casing and a movable paper strip therein and a lid for the casing, of a lock for normally securing the said lid closed, an arm projecting from the look, a pointed tooth at the free end of said arm, and a cam on the under face of the lid and adapted to be e11- gaged by said arm when the lock is operated to open the lid and force said pointed tooth into contact with the paper strip to mark or puncture the same, substantially as set forth.

3. In a pocket-recorder, the combination with a casing and a lid having slots therein, of rollers mounted in the casing, a paper strip passing from one roller to the other and adapted to receive a written record through one of the slots in the lid, a movable bar 0011- structed and adapted to operate one of said rollers to wind the paper strip thereon, a bell, a spring-actuated hammer for said bell having beveled faces, a tooth on the movable bar adapted to engage said bell-hammer and cause it to strike the bell, and means for moving said bar, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS IIOYT GAMBLE.

Witnesses:

'lnonns HENRY Bonus, JOHN THOMAS MALoNE. 

